There was a boy, who always dreamed about cinemas but was not aware of how to reach his goal... Like any other normal boy of his age, he concentrated on studies, did graduation in engineering, got placed in a firm. But his love for movies remained in his heart and one day he got a call from his friend and that was a turning point in his life, making him capable of achieving his dreams...Yes, the boy is none other than Aju Varghese and that friend was Vineeth Sreenivasan...
Born to Varghese and Celin Susan at Thiruvalla, Aju Varghese had his schooling at Rajagiri High School Kalamassery and Bhavans Adarsha Vidhyalaya. After completing BTech, he worked with HSBC, Chennai. Aju has a sister named Anju. In February 2014, he got married to Augustina and both of them are blessed with twin babies.
When invited for the audition of the debut movie of Vineeth Sreenivasan, 'Malarvadi Arts Club', Aju haven't expected much. Actually 'Malarvadi Arts Club' was really a break for many newcomers and the movie gave entry to some of the most promising actors like Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, Bhagath Manuel etc to the Malayalam movie industry. Aju's role 'Kuttu' was very loving and innocent and his mannerisms were well applauded by the critics. The movie got released in 2010.
In 2011, Aju has been part of Manikyakallu, Sevens, and Doctor Love. In 'Manikyakallu', he had a cameo appearance as one of the former students of the school. But in Sevens and Doctor Love, his roles were relevant. In 'Sevens' he again shared the screen with his lucky co-star Nivin Pauly. 'Sevens' directed by Joshiy was a celebration of youth with Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Kumar, Rejith Menon etc on lead.
After his debut movie, Aju's best performance was again seen in 'Thattathin Marayathu'. Released in 2012, this movie repeated the magic of 'Malarvadi' team – Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, Bhagath Manuel, and Vineeth Sreenivasan. Aju's role 'Abdu' in this movie, proved the fact that no one can replace him in this movie. He remained one of the successful elements of 'Thattathin Marayathu'. His other movies in 2012 were Mayamohini, Bhoopadathil Ellatha Oruvan, and Chapters.
Aju Varghese was becoming an inevitable part of the Malayalam movie industry. His career graph began to grow in 2013 with a hand full of projects like Kili Poyi, Bharya Athra Pora, Paisa Paisa, Buddy, Punyalan Agarbhathis, Zachariyude Garbhinikal etc. Of this list the movies Punyalan Agarbhathis and Zachariyayude Garbinikal were gems in his career. In Punyalan Agarbhathis, Aju along with Jayasurya gave a brilliant performance, which attracted viewers to the theatres and on the other side, we saw a romantic face of Aju in 'Zachariyayude Garbinikal'.
One of the biggest blockbusters of 2014, 'Om Shanthi Oshana' was safe in Aju's hands. Like Kuttu and Abdu, the movie lovers will keep 'Kanjani' also close to their heart. Aju once again proved that his luckiest pal is no one other than Nivin Pauly. Nivin was the hero of 'Om Shanthi Oshana'. Another interesting thing about Aju's career in 2014 was that he was able to share a screen with superstar Mohanlal in the big budget movie 'Peruchazhi'. The year 2014 also saw another hit in his career 'Vellimoonga'. He also did a lead role in the movie 'Monayi Angane Aanayi'.
Aju didn't have to look back again. In 2015 he was blessed with good projects like Mariyam Mukku, Aadu, Namasthe Bali, 100 Days of Love and Oru Vadakkan Selfie and also the upcoming movies like Kumbasaram, Kunjiramayanam, Rasputin, Urumbukal Urangaarilla etc. His association with the Malarvadi team again lead to a blockbuster movie 'Oru Vadakkan Selfie'. The movie saw him and Nivin Pauly again together on screen.
Apart from the big screen, Aju had also enacted in short films such as Oru Kutty Chodhyam, Yellow Pen, A Sweet Curse, Oru Thundu Padam, Love Policy and Unnimoolam. In which, 'Yellow Pen' was directed by Jude Anthony Joseph, the director of 'Om Shanthi Oshanana (OSO)'. He was the one who gave life to the funny Kanjani (Aju's character in OSO) after a gap of 2 years.
A mere gesture will make us laugh... Aju is such an actor who creates magic in the theatres. He doesn't go behind lead roles but makes his role perfect and beautiful. Who can forget the combination scenes of him with Nivin in Thattathin Marayathu, Om Shanthi Oshana, and Oru Vadakkan Selfie. He is the best with Nivin or we can say that Nivin will be the best with Aju. Aju has just started his journey as an actor and now he is on the way to achieve his dream... Let wish him all the best...
Innocent Vareed Thekkethala (1948-2023) , a veteran Malayalam actor, the scrupulous politician and the former MP of Loksabha as well. In his career extending more than five decades, he performed in more than 750 films and is concerned one of the iconic comedian in Malayala cinema as well as few Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English films.
National Award-winning actor Nedumudi Venu died at the age of 73 at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. He had been in a critical condition for some time due to liver-related ailments.
